Really Bad News from The Rainbow Water District

This just in: All farms in the Rainbow Water District that participate in the agricultural rate program have been ordered to reduce their water use by a whopping 30% or face staggering fines. (Morning Song Farm's water bill for September was $2500. The fine, as discussed, would double the bill) Organic family farms that have already been practicing mulching, composting, and micro irrigation don't have any way to reduce their water usage any more than they already have. So everyone's talking about which trees they're going to cut down. Ax the avos, or the macadamias? Everyone agrees: keep the cactus! Surprisingly, new building permits continue to be issued, and residential users aren't affected by these mandates. Just farms. The pending loss of a third of the fruiting trees in an entire geographic region in a single year has got to be a new low for family farms in California's drought-stressed frost-free growing areas.

Comments

Todd said…
I am really glad you posted this. I just read the story in today's OC Register, but (1) it's interesting that they focus on individual rate increases and (2) now agriculture has a face to it for me, thanks to your CSA. I can't believe that responsible water users are penalized while development is out of control.
Anonymous said…
Thank you for bringing it to our attention. People don't really think how something like this affects the rest of us.

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